GAME STORYLINES
» Purdue will open Big Ten play at home against Illinois for the third time in the last five seasons when the two schools clash at Mackey Arena on Wednesday night.

» Wednesday's game opens a three-game, seven-day stretch in which the Boilermakers will take on ranked Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State teams, respectively, to begin their league slate.

» The Boilers are 4-3 in Big Ten openers under head coach Matt Painter, having won each of their last three; Purdue is 47-14 (.770) in Big Ten home games under Painter's watch.

» Wednesday's game will be the 250th as head coach at his alma mater for Painter, a Purdue captain under legendary head coach Gene Keady.

» The three-point arc could prove to be a key factor in Wednesday's game, as Purdue ranks second in the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage defense (.293) and the Illini pace the conference with an average of 9.4 triples per game.

» Purdue is coming off of a 73-66 win over William & Mary on Dec. 29 in which it committed a season-low seven turnovers and was whistled for a season-low 11 personal fouls; the Boilermakers have averaged just 8.0 turnovers per game in their last two contests.

» The Boilers scored 48 of their 73 points (65.7 percent) against William & Mary in the paint; for the year, Purdue is averaging 31.8 points per game in the paint and outscoring opponents by an average of 7.5 points per game on the block.

» Purdue ranks second in the Big Ten with an average of 14.4 offensive rebounds per game, having led or tied in that category in all but one of its games this season; despite ranking second in the league as a team, Purdue's top offensive rebounder - center A.J. Hammons - ranks just 14th in the Big Ten with an average of 2.2 per game.

» Purdue's aggressiveness on the offensive glass has led to an average margin of +5.3 second-chance points per game; the Boilers are outscoring opponents by a count of 145-82 on second chances this season.

» Despite having employed six different starting lineups in 12 games this season, Purdue has continued to get a consistent scoring punch from its bench, outscoring opponents' reserves by an average margin of 10.1 points per game.

» After a slow start, Terone Johnson has averaged 14.1 points on 42.3 percent shooting (41-of-97), while adding 5.5 rebounds per game, over Purdue's last eight contests; he has reached double figures in points in 16 of his last 19 games.

» With an average of 1.4 blocks per game, Hammons is the leading freshman shot-blocker in the Big Ten, and ranks third overall in the conference.